‘The End of Oak Street’ is a classically executed series of intense set-pieces, uncanny tension, and escalating action that it consistently runs on.

Dustin Celestino’s ‘A.ni.mál’ may fall in line with his previous Cinemalaya entries’ direct tappings into the modern political zeitgeist, but it sets itself apart through its commitment to pure comedy for comedy’s sake, consistently reaching for the lowest-brow jokes and payoffs that work remarkably well throughout its triptych structure.

Scrappiness is what ‘I, Object’ coasts upon throughout my numerous misgivings of it and what evens it out into a wondrous small-scale adventure with its heart in the right place for the young ones that have felt othered. 

‘The Furious’ is the near-endpoint of a commixture of action’s past and present done with craft and viscera, done through such technical, tangible movement that it hoists itself up to undeniability, hitting you in the head with insane stuntwork and a self-confident sense of style all the while.

‘Obsession’ represents a more modern iteration of its well-worn premise, and not just in the time period it is set in, for it reveals more than a few off-putting facets that are equally disturbing as the big moments it builds towards.

‘In the Grey’ is a damn good time at the cinema, a breezy heist pic that goes on with its own schemes with such confidence that you can’t help but be swept along.

What is that vision that Lee Cronin brings to his ‘The Mummy’? An utterly vicious, shambling behemoth that is difficult to process how it coheres together, but a visceral one. 

‘Gohan’ is as efficient a piece of mainstream ‘cry and laugh-er’ as it should be, one that both reflects the modern era we are living in, and one that implores us to continue living in the midst of it, even with its difficulties, with our furry companions.

Armed with confidence and a sense of extreme escalation, ‘They Will Kill You’ is one hell of a ride that, in its stumbles, still has the guts to entertain.

There's comfort in familiarity that 'Shelter' embodies in spades, like a quick grab from your local fast food joint.

Through its artistic eccentricities and a vast alteration of the franchise's textual and tonal DNA, 'Return to Silent Hill' is surprisingly one of the more viscerally experiential pieces of genre filmmaking under the guise of translating a video game property to the big screen.

‘Primate’ is a brisk, riotous picture that delivers what you’d expect from its synopsis, and does so with striking visual aptness and a whole lot of blood.

‘Scarlet’ is a volatile picture in more ways than one, settling for operatic bombast but still desiring to be a reconstruction of the Shakespearean tale with only a slither of the finesse.

‘Manila’s Finest’s’ posturing of a distinct personal experience during a pivotal moment in Philippine history belies a more minutely bleak, complex, and gut-churning deconstructive narrative.

While ‘Keeper’ isn’t a bad frightfest of a time at the cinema, containing a potent mix of intriguing visual ideas and commanding atmosphere, it’s also a signifier that Osgood Perkins has further ways to go in expanding the breadth of his elusivity in this more ‘pop’ framework.

‘Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc’ is the wild anime B-movie that its acolytes might be awaiting, imbuing its fantastical ambitions and tight plotting with a tinge of mournful empathy.

‘The Long Walk’ is not an easy watch, as its stripped down, unflinching viscera might perturb those looking for an expected narrative push within a mainstream Lionsgate production. Stick with its punishing micro lens though, and the film's damaged, beating heart will never not seep through at any moment, as it holds on to the light of life even in the midst of the dark.

‘The Life of Chuck’s’ good-spirited empathy and crowd-pleasing tendencies that belie its sharper complications is a balance it walks well towards a central message: wonder and happiness will always be within our reach.

Armed with a sprawling, twisty narrative which overstuffs itself as much as it micromanages, ‘Weapons’ stands out as an equal parts horrific, darkly hilarious, and affectingly unstable image of hidden evils in suburbia.

Source material accuracy notwithstanding, ‘Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy’s’ squandering of character and metanarrative elements reveal a glossy spectacle with lacking heart.